A city-based non governmental organisation (NGO) – Telecom Watchdog has approached Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) challenging SMS termination fee being charged by telecom operators.
In its petition, the NGO has stated that the operators are engaged in illegal activity resorting to cartelisation when it comes to charging SMS termination fee.
Termination charges are paid by an operator on whose network calls or SMSes originate to another operator on whose network these communications end. These charges have a direct bearing on SMS tariff.
According to Telecom Watchdog the SMS termination of Re 0.10 is imposed arbitrarily on customers through agreements between operators. It states that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is not taking corrective measures to address the issue.
The NGO has requested TDSAT to direct TRAI to ask operators not to charge SMS termination charges till a reasonable tariff is fixed. It has also requested TDSAT to declare that termination charges are exorbitantly high and do not reflect the true cost of providing services.
